Card: 1955 Topps All Americans, Card #28

Team/Position: Washington State (New York Giants) / Center, Linebacker

Cost: $18.00

Mel Hein was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the first ever class in 1963.

Sammy Baugh, Bert Bell, Dutch Clark, Red Grange, George Halas, Pete Henry, Cal Hubbard, Don Hutson, Curly Lambeau, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, Blood McNally, Bronko Nagurski, Ernie Nevers, and Jim Thorpe — who we’ll get to in a second — were also part of the inagularal class of ’63.

Hein was an absolute beast for the Giants and played both ways as was customary.  Relative to his competition, Hein dominated the center position as well as anyone in the history of the game.  Defensively, Hein was often asked to cover fellow inductee, Don Hutson, as he was one of the few men that could keep up.

Hein was voted All-Pro eight times in his career, and astonishingly won the league’s MVP in 1938.  Hein was a great player, but unfortunately was well before my time, so I’ll shift my focus to this:

Click To Enlarge, In All It's Glory

When it comes to insanely racist comics, the 1950′s seems to do it very well.  When I offered up about 20 dollars for this card, I didn’t see the back.  If I had seen the back, I would have  paid any price.

Which Indian became one of Football’s All-Time Greats?

The answer is obviously the aforementioned Jim Thorpe.  Thorpe, pictured above, apparently played football with a Tomahawk while performing the war-cry of his proud tribe.

Right now, it’s a toss-up between Mel Hein and Jimmy Brown for my favourite card.

Card: 1966 Philadelphia Football Card #31

Team/Position: Chicago Bears / The Middle Linebacker

Cost: $45.00

Dick Butkus was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 and is without a doubt, the greatest linebacker to ever put on a pair of shoulder pads. Butkus was, and always will be, the meanest sunnabitch to ever play football.

Butkus’ numbers, as great as they may be, still pale in comparison to his relentless style of play.  Butkus struck fear into the hearts of anyone that lined up across from him.  It was as if Butkus was protecting his family from an armed intruder on every play. Butkus played on sheer animal instinct and there was little doubt that he exhibited “fight” rather than “flight”.

I wouldn’t ever set out to hurt anyone deliberately unless it was, you know, important; like a league game or something. — Dick Butkus.

Butkus’ tenacious style eventually caught up to him as his knees gave out on him in the early 70′s.

Butkus played through the pain, but eventually had to retire after only 9 years in the NFL.

In those 9 years, Butkus was voted to 8 Pro Bowls and 6 First Team All Pro teams.  For his efforts, Butkus was voted to both the 1960′s and the 1970′s NFL All-Decade teams.

With Butkus’  and Gale Sayers’ Rookie Card in the same set, Philadelphia ’66 is one of the best football sets out there.

Card: 1983 Topps Card #38

Team/Position: Oakland Raiders / Tackle

Cost: Almost Free!

I ended up grabbing this Singletary in an ’83 Bears lot; so it came cheap.  It’s brutally off-center and it’s pretty freakin’ ugly to boot.  Something definitely happened to Topps’ design team when the clock struck 1980.

Green and Purple as the two main colours just don’t do it for me.

With that in mind, I love Mike Singletary.  I love what Singletary’s done for the 49ers and I’d have no problem just writing about that.

Singletary’s one of the few “motivational” rather than “mad-genius” coaches that I love.  As long as you have a strong staff in place, guys like Singletary can really excel at coaching players rather than entire teams.

There was basically no way in which he could top Mike Nolan, who’s an all-time favorite, but showing his ass to Vernon Davis definitely helped.

Singletary: Chicago Bears’ MLB.

The Chicago Bears refuse to play a season without an outstanding Middle Linebacker.  It all started way back when Bill George decided to take a step back from the defensive line.  George was an absolute monster, yet the inventor of the MLB spot often gets lost in the shuffle of great Bears’ MLB by the younger fans.

…and then came Butkus, Dick Butkus.  There’s not much you can say about Butkus that hasn’t already been said, but The Greatest Middle Linebacker of All Time sums it up.

After a brief period — the Tom Hicks period — a man named Mike Singletary came to Chicago.  Singletary quickly asserted himself as the defensive leader of the Chicago Bears, which eventually culminated in a 1985 Super Bowl.  Singletary wasn’t quite as mean spirited as the other Bears’ MLB, but the intensity and motivation was definitely there.

Singletary’s skills were magnified ten-fold by the way he played the game.  He somehow managed to balance a ferocious style with smart play which lead him to 10 Pro Bowls and 2 Defensive Player of the Year Awards.  Singletary just seemed to be everywhere at the same time.

Urlacher’s athletic ability blows all of the previous linebackers away, but playing MLB in the Tampa-2 is a completely different ball-game.  For that reason, it’s really difficult to see the same attacking style that previous linebackers like Singletary and Butkus brought to the table.  The eye-black helps though, Yup.

The Chicago Bears and the Middle Linebacker will forever be united.  I really cannot think of another Team & Position that fit together so perfectly.  When all is said and done, the Chicago Bears could easily have four of the all-time top-5 MLB.

Card: 1973 Topps Card #115

Team/Position: Pittsburgh Steelers / Outside Linebacker

Cost: About 3 Bucks (brutally off center)

When discussing the Steel Curtain of the seventies, where the hell to start is a great question.   The entire defense consisted of talents ranging from well above average to sure-fire Hall of Famer.  Neither Jack Lambert nor Jack Ham, were built like an NFL Linebackers.  Both were undersized, yet managed to dominate their positions for a decade. 

Jack Ham arrived from Linebacker U (Penn State) in 1971 after the Steelers took him with their second round pick.  Ham would go on to take over the Left Outside Linebacker spot as a rookie and hold onto it for his entire career.

Ham was a member of each of the Steelers’ 4 Superbowl victories during the 70′s.  Throw in 8 Pro Bowl appearances, 6 First Team All Pros, and 2 Second Team All Pros, and you’ve got yourself a football player.

Ham was an absolute monster, but was he the best outside linebacker of all time?   If you polled 100 football experts, odds are that they’d be split right down the middle — 50/50 — for Jack Ham and Lawrence Taylor.

What Made Jack Ham Special?

I find myself talking about the importance of a terrific power/speed combination far too often.  Jack Ham definitely wasn’t a power/speed guy, he possessed a combination much more rare:  Jack Ham was a Read-React-Accelerate player.

Ham’s ability to instantly accelerate probably would’ve landed him in the Hall of Fame, even if he weren’t skilled at sniffing the play out.  Ham did have one hell of a nose for the football though, and it took him no time at all to shed blockers on his way to the ball carrier.

When I think about the Ham vs. Taylor argument, it’s a no-brainer for me.  Jack Ham was infinitely more versatile than Taylor, and starting him at the Outside Linebacker spot would allow you ultimate defensive flexibility.  Taylor’s pure pass-rushing skills definitely put him in the conversation, but it’s Jack Ham I’d want in pursuit or back in coverage.  I’m somewhat partial to Ham because Taylor was an absolute freak of nature, whereas Ham could’ve easily been your next-door neighbor.

1973 Topps was such an awful looking year and we’ve still got quite a few more to go from that year.  The only redeeming feature is the large photo on the front.